FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

Want to understand the game better, hunt for future break out players or try to spot trouble before it happens? “Beyond TDs and Tackles” will be offering a handful of players and situations that you should consider when you are watching the games or even just looking at the box score. Everyone knows which players blew up over the weekend but you can gain advantages by following the changes as they start and get better definition on how to value players. Have any questions? Just hit me on twitter @SteveGalloNFL or email me at gallo@thehuddle.com.

We Must Protect This House QB!

They say that games are won in the trenches, and just looking at how often an offensive line allows a QB pressure it sure seems that way. The OL for the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens have allowed 104 QB pressures – one of six teams to allow 100+ QB pressures. It’s no wonder that their record is sub-.500 and sits at 3-4.

Here’s a table that shows how the top and bottom five teams in QB pressures have done this year thru seven weeks.

LEAST QB PRESSURES ALLOWED

MOST QB PRESSURES ALLOWED

TEAM

QB PRESURES ALLOWED

RECORD

TEAM

QB PRESSURES ALLOWED

RECORD

Broncos

57

6-1

Cardinals

122

3-4

Panthers

57

3-3

Giants

113

1-6

Packers

57

4-2

Browns

112

3-4

Bengals

58

5-2

Eagles

108

3-4

Saints

59

5-1

Texans

105

2-5

TOTAL

288

23-9

TOTAL

560

12-23

If you are wondering, the 7-0 Chiefs have allowed 80 QB pressures which ties them for 14th fewest.

The Twilight Zone

At the beginning of the season if I asked you who you thought would have more 15+ yard runs, Reggie Bush or Alfred Morris, my guess is you would have gone with Bush. Season to date, Alfred Morris has 8 runs of 15+ yards, and Reggie Bush has 6. Those 8 runs for Morris account for 208 of his 472 (44.1%) rushing yards thus far. For Bush it’s 144 of his 426 (33.8%).

If you think Morris/Bush is off kilter, you haven’t seen anything yet. Take a look at these two sets of RBs.

RB

15+ Yd Runs

Yds Gained from 15+ Yd Runs

LeGarrette Blount

3

79

Jackie Battle

2

57

Brandon Jacobs

2

31

TOTAL

7

167

Trent Richardson

1

16

Ray Rice

0

0

Rashard Mendenhall

0

0

TOTAL

1

16

Including Mendenhall might be a stretch, but seeing the highly drafted duo of Richardson and Rice with one combined run of more than 15 yards is shocking.

Opportunity Knocks

It’s one thing for a player to not have many opportunities to make a fantasy impact, but it’s another when they do, and still don’t perform. Here’s a look at how a couple of players have maximized their opportunities and anothercouplethat haven’t.

WR

ROUTES RUN

RANK

FANTASY PTS

RANK

FANTASY PTS/ROUTE RUN

Dwayne Bowe

274

10

66.5

48

.243

Hakeem Nicks

273

12

74.0

39

.271

Antonio Brown

236

34

116.1

10

.492

Vincent Jackson*

223

39

114.4

12

.513

*Week 1-7 totals.

To modify a saying from the NBA playoffs (Good Game, Good Effort), Get Open, Get Catches!
In case you were wondering, Greg Little leads the NFLin routes run with 297.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

We’re already at week 8 and with many leagues playing a 13 week regular season schedule I thought I’d give you a couple of good QBs (Alex Smith & Terrell Pryor) – that you can ride from weeks 9-13 if your “normal” QB has any tough matchups. If you own studs with a bad matchup (Kaepernick & Luck), or an ugly matchup (Tom Brady & Matt Ryan) you really should pay attention.

THE GOOD

QB

Opponent

Rank Avg. QB Pts Allowed

Week

Terrell Pryor

Eagles

3

9

@ Giants

6

10

@ Cowboys

1

13

Alex Smith

@ Broncos

2

11

Chargers

8

12

THE BAD

QB

Opponent

Rank Avg. QB Pts Allowed

Week

Colin Kaepernick

Panthers

31

10

@ Saints

29

11

Andrew Luck

@ Texans

26

9

@ Titans

25

11

Titans

25

13

THE UGLY

QB

Opponent

Rank Avg. QB Pts Allowed

Week

Tom Brady

Steelers

32

9

BYE

N/A

10

@ Panthers

31

11

@ Texans

26

13

Matt Ryan

@ Panthers

31

9

Seahawks

28

10

Saints

29

12

Something’s Gotta Give

For the record, I am not a Bengals homer or fan. I say that because they’re going to be a part of “Something’s Gotta Give” again. This week it’s the Bengals offense, specifically their short passing game to the right and their deep passing game to the right and left side of the field. The Jets surprisingly aren’t just 4-3, but if the season started today they’d be a Wild Card team. If they get to 5-3 it will likely be because they win the matchup I’m highlighting here.